• 7.1.24
• Member News

The Catholic Summer School of America at Cliff Haven

The Clinton County Historical Association is pleased to announce the publication of the book – The Catholic Summer School of America at Cliff Haven by Robin LaBarge. The book was edited and published by Bloated Toe Publishing and funding for this project came from a 2023 Local Heritage Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and a donation from the Diocese of Ogdensburg.

In 2014, captivated by the vast collection of photographs at the Clinton County Historical Association presented by CCHA volunteer Roger Black, LaBarge recognized that the Catholic Summer School of America at Cliff Haven was a story that had not been told. Additionally, this was not her idea of a typical summer school. This school had existed on the shores of Lake Champlain for almost 50 years and as it turns out was both a think tank and a resort where famous people from all over the United States as well as other countries came to lecture and learn.

LaBarge, a retired nurse who wrote columns for the Senior Sentinel, suggested to several local authors that a book needed to be written. With no takers, she put the idea on hold. Then in the fall of 2018, while having lunch one day with her then 10-year-old granddaughter, she was asked about the old fashion picture in the booth where they were sitting. It was a picture of President Taff on the steps of the Champlain Club at the Catholic Summer School. In explaining the photo came the telling moment when her granddaughter, without missing a beat, said “Gram, why don’t you write a book about it?”

Labarge began the project a month later. Built on Roger Black’s knowledge of the Summer School, and the CCHA glass plate negatives, the book was started. Other contributors to the book were Martha Bachman, the late Jim Dynko, Susan Howell Hamlin, Ann Rooney, Helen Nerska, Rich Frost, and Jim Crowley with editing support from Larry Gooley of Bloated Toe Publishing.

Presentations on the history of the Summer School including the unique collection of photos are scheduled throughout the summer. All proceeds from the book go to the Clinton County Historical Association.

For more information please contact – Helen Nerska, Director, Clinton County Historical Association, 518-561-0340.